Battle At The Sarlacc Pit - TLC - Battle Packs (Exclusive)

"Victims of the almighty Sarlacc, his Excellency hopes that you will die honorably..." But Luke isn't about to let his friends die at the Pit of Carkoon. As the young Jedi stands on the skiff above the hungry Sarlacc, he springs his daring escape plan. Boba Fett uses the firing grappling hook in his gauntlet to briefly recapture Luke, but with a lightsaber's slash, Skywalker is once again free. One by one, Jabba's guards fall into the pit to be devoured by the Sarlacc. Lando barely escapes from becoming the creature's next meal, and is saved just in time by Han Solo. But Boba Fett doesn't fare as well; Han accidentally activates Fett's backpack and sends the bounty hunter tumbling into the Sarlacc's gaping mouth!

Star Wars collectors found the Battle Packs line to be a very popular sub-line since their introduction in 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith line. As time progressed, Hasbro became more clever and thought outside of the box to a degree some might find as risky. In late 2007, Hasbro introduced the collecting community to the first Ultimate Battle Packs. These upgraded Battle Packs sets were almost like the Deluxe versions of action figures, but for multipacks. They included large accessories, small vehicles, and many action figures. The first two Ultimate Battle Packs sets from the 30 (77-07) line hold up well and command a significant dollar value on the secondary market. Since they sold well, Hasbro repeated their efforts when the line transitioned to The Legacy Collection and The Clone Wars [Blue] lines. The Battle At The Sarlacc Pit (this time with the word “Ultimate” dropped from the packaging) continued in the same established fashion of other larger sets. Still, while it’s a nice and relatively large presentation of the Battle of Carkoon, it, unfortunately, lacks the magic of the Ultimate Battle Packs sets released previously. The Battle At The Sarlacc Pit both passes and fails to varying degrees. Most importantly, we have our first-ever Sarlacc Pit. And while it may not be to scale, Hasbro sculpted it brilliantly and gave it dual functionality (one option that allows collectors to imitate the original version of Episode VI and also the 1997 Special Edition version. The beak of the Sarlacc is removable and comes with two halves. Also important here, Hasbro re-released the Skiff in this set too. The Skiff gets an improved paint job (now with silver battle-damage markings), but the functionality is tired as some of the play features don’t work as well as they once did. The Battle At The Sarlacc Pit set is not perfect, but it isn’t without merit either. Sadly, it’s difficult to get past the major aesthetic issues. We should also note that this set comes packaged with a pseudo base which provides some of the Tatooine desert landscape. And it also allows the Skiff a place to display itself to help show the full manifestation of Sarlacc Pit.

What collectors are going to find repulsive in the Battle At The Sarlacc Pit are the pack-in figures. Hasbro added five previously released action figures in the set. Actually, what they’ve done is simply re-release 2006’s TSC Battle Above The Sarlacc five-figure Battle Packs set in this one. You’ll notice immediately that the figures’ paint applications in The Legacy Collection release might be the worst action figures Hasbro ever released. They came out pitifully. The included figures help add “value” the $63.99 MSRP, but their terrible execution makes them almost worthless to collectors. And for us, it doesn’t affect our final grading on this set too much because the main components of this set are done well. Once again, this set includes five figures. Boba Fett is a fair repaint of 2005’s TSC Boba Fett (SAGA 006) figure. Han Solo is an “alright” repaint of 2005’s TSC Han Solo (SAGA 002) figure. Lando Calrissian is a dreadful repaint of 2004’s SW [S - P3] Lando Calrissian (Jabba’s Sail Barge) (’04 #07) figure. Luke Skywalker is a dreadful repaint of 2004’s SW [S - P3] Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) (’04 #04) figure. and Weequay Skiff Guard is a bizarre repaint of 1997’s POTF2 [FF/TKC] Weequay Skiff Guard figure. He isn’t painted terribly, but the coloring of the figure is completely incorrect. Never will you find a more wretched hive of poorly painted figures. It amazes us that Hasbro wasn't embarrassed by the horrible decorations on the figures and decided to pull the set. How did these figures get approved by Lucasfilm? That is how bad they were painted. But again, this isn’t the reason you bought this set, and Hasbro has released so many better version of these characters in the past. It’s safe to say that they are only "fluff" that add extra play value to the set. Luke Skywalker, in particular, makes us quiver. His eyes are a complete mess. And what is up with his jaundice skin? Lando Calrissian has the most inaccurate paint job that he could almost pass for another skiff guard. Weequay is also different enough that you may possibly consider him to be another skiff guard. Han Solo and Boba Fett are the only two figures that pass our critique as acceptable figures.

The worst part about the figures, however, are the weapons. Most of the accessories in this set are so incredibly soft and limp that they cannot maintain their shape at all. For us, they are nearly rendered useless (or look absolutely ridiculous in the figures’ hands). The Battle At The Sarlacc Pit became clearance fodder by the end of the 2008 holiday shopping season. Of course, it was at this point that they began flying off of the shelves, but the set was priced too high. In retrospect, Hasbro was trying to recoup tooling costs for the Sarlacc Pit sculpting, but a lot was sacrificed as a result (including value). It may have been better to repack it with more modern updates of the basic figures or perhaps give one or two fewer figures ensuring that the paint applications were top notch. Star Wars collectors are a sharp group, and perhaps adding one all-new figure painted nicely might have been a better choice for Hasbro to make. The wool can’t be pulled over our eyes. Hasbro needs to give us quality all the time. Some may still feel that five figures with poor quality are better than one figure with good quality, but we don’t agree with this sentiment. But we understand how many wish to get as many items possible for their dollar. The Battle At The Sarlacc Pit was the opportunity for Hasbro to give us something to wow us (and it partially did). But they needed to wow us more in an era where more and more collectors are leaving the hobby and where money is tighter than ever making “superfluous” purchases move quickly to extinction. That isn’t to say that Hasbro is giving us some of the best figures and products they ever have. We think most of us never thought we would have the opportunity to get a 3.75” scale Sarlacc Pit (well, we never did) and it is incredible to have it finally. If we can only persuade them to develop a Sail Barge now, that would be the crowning joy of our collections undoubtedly. (Editor’s Note: Hasbro released Jabba’s Sail Barge (The Khetanna) in The Vintage Collection through the HasLab program in March 2019.) Be sure to close your eyes when looking at the included figures, because they’ll taint your vision to the rest of this nice set.